The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus including a portable terminal device and the like and, more particularly, to an information processing apparatus in which problems associated with screen display functions of a portable terminal device are solved to display more information and to improve usability of the same.
Recently, portable information terminal devices for personal use such as PDAs have begun to widely spread. The portable terminal devices include a display screen which serves as both an input device and a display device, provided in its body substantially in the size of a palm. Such portable terminal devices have a problem in that the area of their display screens is very small because of their portability. For this reason, a configuration is employed which magnifies each piece of information to display it across the entire screen, thereby allowing the user to see it with increased ease.
Specifically, when such a portable information terminal device is activated, the display screen first displays a main menu which allows selection of various functions of the device. When the user selects any function from the main menu, the function is started and the contents thereof are magnified and displayed across the entire display screen.
For example, let us assume that an icon "mail" is selected from the main menu. Then, a list of mail which has been received is displayed across the entire display screen. When the mail to be read is selected from the mail list, the contents of the mail will then be displayed across the entire display screen.
Meanwhile, to select another function from this state, the detailed information currently opened is temporarily closed and the required function is then selected. This results in a magnified display of the detailed information of the function across the entire display screen.
Thus, a conventional portable terminal device must be selected to display either menu of functions or detailed information across the entire screen because the display area of the screen is small. This results in a problem in that the selection of a desire function menu to obtain desired detailed information involves much time and labor, making the operation complicated.